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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Cecil the lion

The PC police are always on the lookout for the latest faux outrage. They are never content unless they find something new to wax indigent about. It happens with such regularity that you could set your watch by it. The current "outrage" is a hunter who shot a lion. And this isn't the first time. Remember the Rebecca Francis kerfuffle?

The hunter has issued a futile apology. Futile, because his critics will never forgive him. It's too late. Can't bring Cecil back to life.

The hunter is now persona non grata for life. Forever banished from the charmed circle of the politically correct.

Now, I'm not into big game hunting, but how do these critics think lions die in the wild? Do they think lions naturally die a peaceful death? I bet you most of them don't stop to think about it at all. That would interfere with their knee-jerk emoting.

So many professed animal lovers know nothing about animals. I'm not an expert on African wildlife, but I think I can safely say a few things about the lifecycle of lions.

Although male lions are capable hunters, they are not as capable as a lioness or tiger. A lion is designed to fight other lions. That makes it a bit musclebound.

And, of course, lionesses are often successful in hunting due to teamwork. By contrast, the primary function of a lion is to protect the pride.

Once a lion passes his prime, he is doomed. He will be ousted by a younger rival.

There are different ways he may die. He may bleed to death from his wounds. He may die of infection. If he's injured, he will begin to starve.

Even if he isn't seriously harmed, an aging lion lacks the speed and agility to be a successful solitary hunter. So he will begin to starve.

Any sign of weakness is deadly on the savannah. Herd animals can sometimes compensate by protecting weaker members. To some extent a pride will protect an aging lioness.

No such luck for the lion. A lone aging lion doesn't have that backup system. Hyenas or Cape hunting dogs will probably kill him. A bite here, a bite there. He will be too weak to fight back.

I once saw a nature show about a lioness bitten by a cobra, which left her almost incapacitated. It didn't take long for other predators to view her as their next meal.

And it's not as if lions are exactly nice animals. To be sympathetic to the plight of a lion is to be unsympathetic to the plight of a zebra. If you could poll zebras on the death of Cecil, what do you think the results would be?

I daresay many people who are outraged by the death of Cecil are the same kind of people who say they don't believe in God due to the problem of pain in the animal kingdom. But death by a bullet is a lot quicker than death by "natural causes" on the savannah. Logically, they should classify big game hunting as mercy killing.

In addition, many men naturally enjoy hunting. That's instinctual. So even on secular or evolutionary grounds, what's wrong with big game hunting?

13 comments:

Part of the skepticism of his apology stems from his past illegal hunting infractions - this wasn't his first "mistake".

"Now, I'm not into big game hunting, but how do these critics think lions die in the wild? Do they think lions naturally die a peaceful death? I bet you most of them don't stop to think about it at all."

There's a difference between hunting and poaching. His critics make that distinction - which is why many hunters are also criticizing him and his guides. That's why permits are issued for these types of hunt - they are issued to kill old males who are either a problem for the pride or are beyond mating age. This then increases the strength and stability of the pride. That's part of the point of responsible conservation trophy hunting. It's not like this was a case of antelope hunting where there are millions still left in Africa - the African lion is on the cusp of being classified as threatened.

"Once a lion passes his prime, he is doomed. He will be ousted by a younger rival. "

Cecil was in his prime.

"Dr Andrew Loveridge, one of the principal researchers on the project, told the publication that Cecil and another male lion named Jericho led two prides with six lionesses and a dozen young cubs, and he feared for the safety of the cubs now Cecil had been killed."Jericho as a single male will be unable to defend the two prides and cubs from new males that invade the territory. This is what we most often see happening in these cases. Infanticide is the most likely outcome," he said."

Secondly, while there are always excess males due to pride structure, hunters always want the best specimens. As such, weaker male lions get to mate who otherwise wouldn't (as the best ones and their offspring are killed), overall diluting the gene pool.

"But death by a bullet is a lot quicker than death by "natural causes" on the savannah. Logically, they should classify big game hunting as mercy killing. "

Cecil was lured outside the park at night and shot by a bow and arrow which did not kill him - it was another 40 hours before the hunting party returned to kill him with gunshot.

"How is killing Cecil any different from what routinely happens in the wild?"

I'd agree but it's not a completely analogous situation here, given the fact that the African lion is close to being classified as endangered mainly due to human activities in sub-Saharan Africa (through population increases in the area). Of course, sport hunting is beneficial to conservation of endangered species but what was done here is poaching.

Palmer claims that he was under the impression that everything was done legally, but he's had a poaching incident in the US in 2008. So the situation is a bit murky. And as much as I dislike trophy hunting, the reaction from the PC crowd has probably been some of the worst I've seen in a good while. You've got despicable charlatans like Piers Morgan writing a piece about hunting Palmer in the same manner.

All this now takes centre stage while there is not even a whisper in the media about the third Planned Parenthood's video.

"Secondly, while there are always excess males due to pride structure, hunters always want the best specimens. As such, weaker male lions get to mate who otherwise wouldn't (as the best ones and their offspring are killed), overall diluting the gene pool."

Interesting objection:

i) It's true that human hunters like to bag the most impressive specimens.

ii) However, even though, if give a choice, some predators opt for easy prey, it depends on what's available. It's not just the sickly or aged prey that are picked off. Many predators kill prey in their prime. Barracuda, birds of prey, crocodiles, orcas, sharks, moray eels, tigers, tigerish, polar bears, piranhas, wolves, pythons, &c., aren't that finicky. Lions will even take on cape buffalo, although that's a very dangerous prey species which can easily kill the lion.

If killing a robust specimen or specimen in its prime dilutes the gene pool, nature does that all the time.

Cecil was aborted. C'est la vie. Palmer just went about things all wrong.

Palmer and his hunt team should have pinned Cecil down, fully conscious, and held his big furry head in a giant pair of forceps while the base of his skull was punctured with a pair of garden shears, and his brains were sucked out with a shop vac. Then they should have dismembered him and sold, er, "donated" his tissues to interested third parties.

Heck, I'd pay $50,000 to see that videotaped and put on YouTube. Then I'd dare the PC police to wax apoplectic.

I wonder how many of these PC police types have spent time in the outdoors or wild (e.g. camping, hiking)? This sort of exposure (among other things) might give them a better perspective and appreciation of what they criticize, for a lot of their criticisms seem to reflect a substantial ignorance of nature.

Btw, the hunter is a dentist. Apparently Yelp reviews are savaging his dental practice even though most of the reviewers have never visited his practice. As if his hunting had any bearing on his dentistry.